


Autonomy

by Iosa



Series: The Light at the End [2]
Category: Big Hero 6 (2014)
Genre: Darkpath Au, Gen, Hiro take care of your hair, Mild Language, Post-Darkpath, Runescratch, Take it from someone who knows, m/m - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-19
Updated: 2015-07-19
Packaged: 2018-04-10 03:59:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4376372
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iosa/pseuds/Iosa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tadashi struggled to run the brush through the disgruntled teen’s hair.  Said teen was making it his mission to be as difficult as possible by squirming and occasionally thrashing in Wasabi’s strong arms.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Autonomy

**Author's Note:**

> This was just an idea I had about why Darkpath!Honey Lemon doesn't cut her hair.

“Come  _on_ , Hiro!  If you would just  _take care_  of it yourself I wouldn’t have to be doing this!”

Tadashi struggled to run the brush through the disgruntled teen’s hair.  Said teen was making it his mission to be as difficult as possible by squirming and occasionally thrashing in Wasabi’s strong arms.

“Why do you care?!  My hair’s always messy!  You’d  _know_  that if you hadn’t-”

Tadashi cut Hiro off before they retread  _that_  muddy road again.

“I’m not  _trying_  to make it neat, I’m just keeping the knots out of it so it won’t get matted!”

“It doesn’t matter if I always have it tied up!”

“Yes it  _does_ , because you don’t brush it after you wash it and it  _will_  get noticeable even if it  _is_  always tied up!”

“I don’t know, man,” Wasabi grunted as he held Hiro as still as he could.  “Maybe we should look into getting it trimmed, at least-”

“ _No!_   I’m  _not_  cutting my hair!”

“Hiro, you may not have a choice-”

“I’m not letting you cut it, asshole!  LET GO OF ME!   _LET GO!_ ”

Hiro resumed violently thrashing in earnest, making Tadashi pause while Wasabi was forced to hold on as tightly as he could.  Eventually, Hiro tired himself out, and after several more minutes of brushing and frustrated growling on both ends, Tadashi was finally satisfied that Hiro’s bird’s nest would remain knot free for a while.  Wasabi released Hiro, immediately jumping back as he did so; half expecting the teen to lash out at him in retaliation for holding him (it wouldn’t have been the first time), he was relieved when Hiro only sprinted to his room with an angry “I fucking  _hate you!_ ”.  He slumped into a chair, exhausted.

“Maybe we  _should_  cut his hair,” Tadashi said, exasperated.  “Would certainly be easier in the long run.”

“And how would you do it?  You’re not honestly suggesting we let a pair of scissors anywhere  _near_  him, are you?”

“I don’t know, okay?  I just don’t think we can keep this up.”

They both stayed silent for a minute, before Wasabi spoke up again.

“Maybe you could ask Honey?  I’m sure she could help.”

“… Yeah, I guess that wouldn’t hurt.  Hold on, I’ll give her a call.”

Tadashi walked into the next room, pulling out his cell phone and bringing up Honey’s number.  He thought for a second before calling it.  He was about to hang up after four rings when the call was finally answered.

“Tadashi, hi!  How are you?  How’s Wasabi?  Is Hiro okay?”

Tadashi chuckled into the phone.

“Hello, fine, fine, and as okay as he can be given the circumstances.”

“Is he still really angry all the time?”

“Yep.  Should’ve seen us just now, trying to brush that mop of his.”

“Aww, Hiro’s hair is always messy.  It makes him adorable.”

“Yeah, when he’s not screaming and trying to break everything in throwing distance,” Tadashi grumbled.  “Anyway, his hair is why I’m calling you.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I was wondering if you could help cut it?  It would make things easier for everyone, I think.”

“I think I could try.”

“We’ll need to find some way to restrain him or calm him or something, though.  He’s probably gonna try to fight.”

“Wait, you mean he doesn’t want his hair cut?”

“He flipped at the mere suggestion of it.”

“… Don’t do it.”

Tadashi paused in confusion, briefly pulling the phone away and looking at it.

“What?”

“Don’t make him cut his hair if he doesn’t want to.”

“Honey, he’s not taking care of it.”

“I don’t care, just – You can’t do this.  I won’t help you with it.”

“Why?  What’s going on?”

“I don’t … .”  There was a sigh from her end.  “Do you remember what my hair looked like when I was … with Hiro?”

Tadashi couldn’t forget.  He remembered seeing old photos of her before the fire and how beautiful she’d looked, how long and full her hair was.  And he remembered how she looked during their confrontations; dull, sad eyes, chemically burned fingers, and most noticeably, singed, tattered hair.

“Yeah,” he said.  “Yeah, I remember.”

“I could’ve had it cut, you know.  At any point during those two years.  But I was determined to never cut my hair as long as I was working for Hiro.  My hair was _my_  decision, and mine alone.  I lived with the horror of knowing that I could and _would_  lose control over my own body at a moment’s notice, forced to do things I’d never do willingly.  But my hair was the one thing I had complete control over, and  _no one_  would be taking that away from me.  And so, no matter how ratty it got, I kept it exactly how it was.”

“But wouldn’t that have been the case even if you decided to cut it?  I don’t understand.”

“I think I just needed them to know.  It became a statement, really; the worse it got, the more obvious it was that I was making the conscious decision to keep it that way, and that nobody was going to make me change it.  I was the one in control of it.  And to be perfectly honest, cutting it would’ve felt like giving in to the situation, like I was accepting it.  It would’ve been like admitting defeat.”

“Yeah, that … that makes sense.  Sorry.”

“No, it’s okay!  There’s a point to all this!  What I’m trying to say, Tadashi, is that Hiro probably feels the same way about his own hair now, since … since everything ended.  I imagine he doesn’t have much control over anything now, right?”

Tadashi swallowed the lump in his throat.  While it was certainly miles above a lifetime prison sentence or whatever horrible punishment he would’ve had, Hiro still had very little freedom, and not just because he was being punished; Hiro seemed to have very little control over  _himself_ , and both Tadashi and Wasabi constantly worried that he would somehow manage to hurt himself or others.  He needed to be watched  _constantly_ , and the two men agreed to care for him in shifts, but even then, they still got very little sleep.  Tadashi couldn’t even remember the last time he and his boyfriend slept (in the literal sense) together, at the same time; Hiro’s own sleep patterns were short and erratic, and often resulted in bad nightmares, so they couldn’t even fully relax when the kid was asleep.

“Tadashi?”

“Uh, sorry, was just thinking.  But yeah, you’re right.  He’s being kept on a pretty tight leash at the moment.  I mean, I don’t  _like_  it, but-”

“No, no, I totally understand!  After everything, just … I get it.  But you need to make sure not to tighten it so much that you choke him, you know?  Let him know that no matter how restrained he is, he’ll always have control over his body.  It might just give him something to take refuge in.  And who knows, maybe one day you’ll be able to loosen his leash a little.”

“But now we’re right back at square one:  Hiro not taking care of his hair.”

“It’s probably just another way he’s showing his contempt over everything.”

“I draw the line at basic hygiene, Honey.”

“Alright, alright.  Perhaps I could … come over and talk to him?”

“Oh, Honey, I don’t know … .”

“I know you guys aren’t exactly big on visitors right now, and I know Hiro is being … difficult right now, but maybe if I tell him about my experience, we can reach an understanding.  Oh, and then I could give him all sorts of tips on proper hair care!”

“I’m not sure if bringing up the past is the best way to go about this.”

“Or you can just continue doing whatever it is you’re doing now.  I’m sure you have it handled!”

“Fine, god _damn_ , play dress-up with my little brother’s hair, whatever!  Just don’t blame me when he bites your hand and you need to go get a rabies shot.”

“I’m sure it won’t come to that.”

“Well, maybe if you whip something up to knock him out … ?”

“We’re  _not_  drugging your brother.”

“But maybe we could-”

“ _We’re not drugging your brother._ ”

“I was just  _joking_.”

“Were you?  Were you  _really_?”

“ … Yes?”

“I’ll be over in a few hours.  See you then!”

Tadashi hung up after he heard Honey end the call.  He pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out a groan.  

“So, Honey’s gonna style Hiro’s hair, huh?” Wasabi said flatly as Tadashi returned.  “Bet  _that’s_  gonna go over well.  What makes her think she’ll be able to get near him with the way he is right now?”

“Dude, it’s either this or we have a repeat of today.”

“Yeah, I’d like to not do that again, thank you.”

“I’m sure none of us do.  Hopefully Hiro will agree when I tell him.”

“Yeah, good luck with that, man!”

Tadashi rolled his eyes as he made his way to Hiro’s room, Wasabi following behind and standing in the entryway.  He would later tell Tadashi that the photo he snapped of Hiro’s flabbergasted face as well as hearing a flat, confused ‘what’ in response to being told ‘I called Honey and she’s coming over to mess with your hair’  _almost_  made the entire incident totally worth it.   _Almost._


End file.
